Finished!

I confess that I did not want this project to end.  But despite this sentiment, I completed the final blocking of my miniature museum.  Here it is from many angles:

And here it is next to the miniature shop.

Thank you again to Bob, Megan, and Devon, the Edward Gorey House, and the Cultural Center of Cape Cod.  This was amazingly fun, and I look forward to the auction in the Spring!

Mini Signs

The signs were a small but crucial detail.  I mounted them in tiny half-scale frames.

They definitely added to the museum feel:

And now for the final blocking!

Exquisite Amber

I made a large, rare amber specimen from this amber-colored teardrop that I found at the kickoff.

Using a 1:12 scale, this sample would be approximately 30" long.  Exquisite indeed!  I tried researching world's largest amber sample, and found this history of the Amber Room instead.   The Amber Room was built in 18th century Europe, and once contained several tons of amber.  I won't reveal the rest, but it's well worth the read.

Faux Skull

My museum was in desperate need of a skull.  But alas, the skulls from the kickoff were not the right scale.

So I turned to Etsy and found this mammal skull soap.  It was just the right size to repurpose.

For the pedestal, I used one of the small metal items from the kickoff that I couldn't quite identify. I removed the rust by soaking it in Coke, and discovered a "Timken" label underneath.  (I looked up "Timken", and decided that the part looked the most like a coupling.)

I stacked wooden beads on top, and mounted the skull with miniature wax.  Results are below.  I like how it looks with the meteorite.

Crustaceans

Today I assembled the Hall of Crustaceans (sign to come).  I had one shell left from the shell plant, and it fit nicely here.  The shrimp and crab illustrations came from the Wok and Tempura Cookery book.

Please read here if you would like to learn more about crustaceans.  (I did!)

More Specimen

After the first blocking, it was urgently clear that I needed more butterflies and dung beetles.  Devon got to work on this right away. (Thank you, Devon!)

I affixed the frames to the wall with temporary miniature wax, and used more blocks for the pedestals.  The dung balls look surprisingly regal.

Crustaceans next!

First Blocking

Next came the crucial decision of how to position the sewing box.  Options were as follows:

                                

A.

B.

C.

After much deliberation, I went with "C" and turned the box into walls.  Then I stained a cutting board for the floor.

I used a napkin ring and more toy blocks as display pedestals.

Early results below!  I still have more pieces to make, but it is starting to take shape.  (The framed pictures aren't mounted yet - I just positioned them in the general area of where I think they will go.)

Mini Fountain

I decided that my mini museum needed an indoor fountain.

And as luck would have it, the ceramic blue soy sauce dish that I found at the kickoff was the perfect scale, color and shape for a fountain base.  I started with this and some of the larger beads from the wooden necklace.

I painted the beads gold, and stacked them into a fountain structure.

For the fountain streams, I took some of Bob's fishing wire and threaded it through the beads.  (Thank you, Bob!)

And for the pool, I bought some clear acrylic artificial water from Amazon and poured it into the bottom. 

The acrylic hardened overnight, and came out looking very much like water.  I've positioned the fountain here in front of my Marx Skyscraper.

Here is a closer view.

Happy Thanksgiving!

More Amber

I was especially pleased with the amber specimen paperweights that I made for the Goreyosity Shop.  And since I still had the supplies, I decided to make more.

These will fit well with the crustacean pictures.  It's starting to look like a museum!

Mini Meteorite

I was determined to use this rusted railroad spike that I found at the kickoff.

The scale was too big to use all of it, but I thought the head alone would make a convincing meteorite.

Megan did the cutting with a Dremel (thank you, Megan!)

I've mounted it on another napkin ring for now, but I am still deciding on the final display.

Mini Dung Beetle

One of the more interesting items that I chose from the kickoff was the Monkey Brand Black Tooth Powder.  I used the box to make a poster, but I thought it would be fun to use the actual powder as well.

And in a moment of clarity, I decided to make a miniature dung beetle.

I used one of the round wooden beads as the foundation for the dung.  I had several sizes to choose from, but I ultimately went with medium.  (The small bead was not interesting enough, and the scale of  the large bead was too grotesque.)

I covered the bead with brown-colored clay, and rolled the wet clay in the tooth powder.  Incidentally, the tooth powder smells like a combination of tea, moss, and pencil shavings, although I don't think it contains any of these ingredients.

Then I shook off the excess powder and mounted the dung on another bead that I had already painted gold.  I am quite pleased with the result.

Mini Taxidermy

Continuing with the natural history theme, I decided to add some Victorian taxidermy to my 1840s sewing box.  Please see here and  here  for some real examples from the 1850s.

I, of course, used faux taxidermy, and I stuck with the butterflies.  I ordered a small butterfly hole-punch from eBay, and went back to the books from the kickoff.

Devon punched out a few butterflies and mounted them onto a page from one of the books. (Thank you, Devon!)

Results are below.  As it happens, the wings from the devil-like creature shown above made some very nice moth wings.